Ashen Showers
by Anthraviolets
Summary: During the SandWing War of Succession, two hybrid dragonets are split from birth. They weren't supposed to meet - but when they happen to come across each other in a chance encounter, the opportunity of embarking on a journey to retrieve the sibling relationship that had been stolen from them presents itself to them...and perhaps they may help save the world along the way.
1. Prologue - Alluvium

In the dead of night, a lone dragoness rushed through the dense rainforest undergrowth - the dragon could easily be identified as a MudWing, if not for the thick armoured scales stuck upon her back. She ran with urgency, her talons crushing the frail blades of grass underneath. Around her neck was a handwoven pouch made of leaves, one that looked as if it had seen better days - the flap swayed back and forth as the night breeze whistled a soft tune. Her talons trampling a small puddle, the dragoness came to a halt, a distressed expression on her face as she took a peek into her pouch.

Inside was two dragon eggs, though they looked nothing like typical MudWing eggs should - usually they were a shade of brown or amber, and stayed that way. The eggs had looked a dark brown for one heartbeat, then a pale amber the next. They appeared to shimmer various earthy tones, which were made more visible in the moonlight - not normal for any pure MudWing egg. Not a single scratch was on either, and neither were dripping with the quagmire's droplets.

The dragoness let out a sigh, her muscles relaxing - though not by much, she felt better at ease. She continued to make her way throughout the rainforest, slowing down with every step she took. Arriving at a lonesome clearing, the dragoness gently laid the two eggs, lingering as she sat back on her haunches. Though the expression on her face was enough for anyone to realize she didn't wish to tarry for too much longer.

"Where is he? I promised Sludge I wouldn't be long," She groused, tapping her talon onto the dirt.

As if on command, a slender dragon popped out of the bushes, his scales an a seafoam green - by now, the MudWing had known this to be his colours of confusion. _I suppose it was rather ill-timed to tell Apricot later rather than sooner,_ She thought. _But I'll have time to dwell on that later._

Apricot gave her a small smile. "Alluvium, you worry too much. I'm here."

"I don't worry too much," She scoffed, snorting in amusement. "But that's enough of that."

"Oh, alright. What was this all about?" He asked, genuine concern trickling into his voice. He then looked down at Alluvium's talons, belatedly taking notice of the two eggs. The RainWing remained quiet for a moment, then murmured, "They're ours, aren't they?"

Alluvium nodded, letting out a heavy sigh. "Indeed."

Apricot met Alluvium's gaze, unblinking. "Why did you bring them here? Haven't I told you about RainWings and their hatcheries? That's no life for them."

"And instead letting them be trained to go to war at a young age, only to be surrounded by death and heartache? I could never," Alluvium argued, horror in her eyes. "That's why I want you to take them. They'll be far safer here than in the Mud Kingdom, fighting for survival in every battle they take part in - I _have_ to entrust them to you, Apricot. Don't you see?"

The flash of orange in his scales had sufficed. "And they're also _your_ dragonets, Ally. You're always so fiercely devoted to your family, and wouldn't let any harm come to them. Do you really think I wouldn't trust you to take care of them, knowing that?"

Alluvium grew fuzzy at his praise - though she felt her spirits sink at the same time. _I can't raise them in the Diamond Spray Delta,_ She reminded herself. _The little ones wouldn't stand a chance in the war._ But she knew how Apricot had felt about the situation, though she wanted him to be with their dragonets too. Taking one last glance at the shimmering eggs, her gaze grew cloudy as she mused their options.

"I have another idea," She confessed. "But you aren't going to like it."

Gently picking up one of the eggs in her talons, she handed it over to Apricot, her heart now forlorn. His scales gradually faded into a deep navy blue, his expression unreadable as he sighed. The egg now in his talons, he drew back, already headed for the RainWing Village. Alluvium's chest was hollow as she watched him take off.

 _At least one of our dragonets are safe,_ She hoped. Setting the remaining egg in her pouch, she left in the direction of the Diamond Spray Delta, unable to take her mind off of Apricot and her other dragonet. _I can't let this one down. Its life depends on it._


	2. Chapter 1 - Cocoa

I'm sorry for not updating in such a long time! School, life and other stuff have been keeping me away from this, and that I apologize for. Today we're meeting one out of our two main POVs, Cocoa of the MudWings! Hope this chapter is enough to satisfy y'all until I finish our other POV's chapter...which will take a while, judging by the fact I'm working on two other fanfictions at the moment so, eh.

* * *

"Come on, Cocoa. Try it again." Sepia urged Cocoa, her eyes gleaming with hopefulness. "You can do it!" Cocoa lifted herself up, folding her wings on her back. _No I can't! I'll never be normal!_

"No I can't, Sepia! I'll never be able to breathe fire like anyone else!" Cocoa cried, her body shaking heavily. "I'm just a useless abomination!" _Why did I have to be so weird?_ Sepia padded towards her, her tail lashing angrily. _And now Sepia's going to scold me. AGAIN._

Sepia narrowed her eyes. "Cocoa, stop telling yourself that! Just because you can't breathe fire it doesn't mean that you can't be helpful!" Cocoa shook her head, looking down at her talons. "Cocoa, please. We don't have to train for the rest of the day. We'll train tomorrow instead, since you've made it clear that you're not in the right state of mind to practice." _Thank the moons._ "Come on, let's go see how Ercu is doing. Maybe he's caught something to eat." The two MudWings walked towards the center of the small village, their wings folded on their backs.

"Hey, there's the disfigured dragonet!" A young MudWing dragonet called out. _Shut up, idiot!_ "Still can't figure out how to breathe fire?" Cocoa whipped her head to face the dragonet.

"For your information, I'm ten years old! Much older than you!" Cocoa snapped at him. The MudWing huffed and lashed his tail angrily, clearly displeased with Cocoa actually saying something back. Cocoa was never the type to retort back if anyone had said anything about her. It was either she didn't notice it or that Sepia or Sludge covered her snout up with their wings so she wouldn't say anything back. Most of the time she didn't notice. _I guess I'm lucky for not being as attentive than the other dragons my age…otherwise Queen Moorhen would have me fighting battles as well._ Cocoa wasn't allowed to fight, simply because they were worried that she might fight against her tribe or forget she was in battle, possibly killing all of her fellow MudWings. _But I would like to fight for my tribe, despite the struggles._

"Cocoa, don't. I'm not getting you out of trouble this time." Sepia warned her, her voice growing impatient. With a sigh, Cocoa continued following Sepia to where the food was kept, if the village had any. "I asked Ercu to meet us here. Hopefully he's here instead of out at another battle…" _I hope so too. Ercu is nice._ Ercu was another of Cocoa's relatives, and was a prankster in all honesty. He was the one to often cheer up Cocoa when she was feeling down, and not many dragons were capable of doing that.

"I'm here. So what was it you wanted to talk to me about?" Ercu called out from the other side of where they were standing. _Wait, talk? I wanted to get something to eat._ Sepia glanced at Cocoa with a sympathetic glimmer in her eyes.

"You can get something to eat." Sepia sighed, finally giving in. Cocoa smiled a toothy grin and rushed over to pick a piece of prey. _Food! Thank the moons, I've been starving all day!_ She picked out a large looking heron and grabbed it within her jaws. _Maybe Sepia and Ercu want some too!_ Cocoa stopped suddenly when she saw Sepia and Ercu talking, in what seemed like deep discussion. _Huh? What're they talking about?_

Ercu sighed, muttering something to himself. "Sepia, she's…not a normal MudWing. Can't you tell? She's unable to breathe fire, anyone can tell by now." _So it's true. I_ am _useless._

"So? She's also RainWing! There might be _something_ useful in there for Cocoa!" Sepia protested. _H-Half…RainWing…? I'm a hybrid? Three moons, no. It can't be. I've always been different from the other MudWings but I'm a MudWing to. Right? Right?_ Cocoa swallowed the thoughts down her throat. What use was there dwelling on them? As far as Cocoa was concerned, it wouldn't matter too much. _Or does it? Am I a mistake? Are those other MudWing dragonets right?_ "Either way, we've gotta keep trying. She'll be forced to fight at some point, whether it be IceWings, SeaWings or SandWings. Cocoa will die because of it!" _I can't hear anymore. It's too much._ Cocoa dropped the heron suddenly and took off for the exit of the village. _Sepia can't be telling the truth, right? No. She can't be. But Ercu said the same exact thing, right? By the moons, this is confusing!_ Cocoa shut her eyes, not caring about where she was running into. It didn't matter. She needed alone time.

"Cocoa, watch out!" That was Sludge's voice. _I'm going to run into something or someone, aren't I?_ With a thud, Cocoa realized she'd ran straight into another dragon. "Too late now." He sighed. Cocoa opened her eyes to see two dragons- no, two dragonets in front of her. The one she'd ran into was rather small looking for a MudWing dragonet, even compared to Cocoa. Her scales were a light brown with a sort of bluish tinge. They were also quite shiny for a MudWing, also taking Cocoa off guard. _Is she a hybird like me? Then how come I've never seen her before? Was she born elsewhere? Alluvium has always told me that I have a sib somewhere out there…is she my missing sibling?_ The dragonet who was still standing was a pure MudWing, from what Cocoa could tell, and he was HUGE. _He must be a Bigwings, like my uncle Sludge! Although Sludge is rather…puny._

"Get off of me!" The dragonet she landed on growled. Cocoa quickly scrambled to her feet, jumping off of the dragonet. "Ugh, could you've at least paid attention before running into me!" _She's_ grumpy _._

"I-I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to, I swear!" Cocoa wailed, on the verge of tears. She could hear footsteps from behind herself. Cocoa turned to see Sludge and Bronze padding up to her. _They're going to scold me, aren't they?_ Bronze looked indifferent, his pale brown eyes shining in the sun's blinding light. Sludge meekly followed Bronze, his wings tucked in. _He's ashamed of me. I did something stupid and dumb again._ The two older MudWings were now standing beside her, their gazes fixated on the two dragonets in front of Cocoa.

Bronze blinked slowly. "Sorry about her. She always has her head in the clouds, not paying attention." He whipped his head to glare at Cocoa. "This is why you can't find a troop! You need to pay attention more, Cocoa." Cocoa dipped her head, nodding in respect.

The giant MudWing his head. "'Troops'...? What're those?" _Even I know what those are! Has he been living under a rock his entire life?_ Bronze seemed to notice her irritation with the young dragonet, due to him promptly smacking her back with his wings. Cocoa grumbled to herself, but she didn't protest. _Keep your tongue, Cocoa. You can yell at Bronze for it later._

"Troops are a group of MudWings who are siblings, or sibs as we like to call them." Sludge explained, his voice on edge. _Bronze, you should be explaining this to him, not Sludge! You know how he is with strangers!_ "There's a BigWings for each troop, and that BigWings is usually the largest of them all. But in my troop's case…not so much." Bronze snorted, his talons digging into the earth. _Bronze, stop being so mean to your BigWings! You of all MudWings should know that!_

He immediately stopped chuckling to himself after noticing Cocoa's vicious glare. "Sludge, stop giving away our tribe's information all willy-nilly." Bronze narrowed his eyes to slits. "Who are you and who sent you? I've never seen you before. You don't have any scars from any of our enemies. Answer me!" _Stop being such a bully, Bronze!_

"E-Erm…I'm Clay." The MudWing stammered. _At least his name sounds normal._ "She's Glory." Bronze hissed at Glory, his sharp teeth protruding from his jaws. "What's-?"

Bronze snarled at the female dragonet. "That isn't a normal MudWing name! You're planning to attack our tribe! Well guess what, you liars? You're coming with me!" Sludge whipped his head to face him, anger burning in his eyes. Bronze rolled his eyes. "What, _BigWings_?"

"Just leave them alone. They're MudWings, for three moons sake. Why don't you go battle practice with Ercu and Sepia, while me and Cocoa help clay and Glory around?" hissed Sludge, a strain of annoyance in his growl. Bronze snorted in amusement, but turned away back towards the direction of the center of their village. "Don't worry about him…he doesn't know how to keep his mouth shut." _By the moons…why can't I do anything right for anyone at all?_


End file.
